1. Field of Invention
The present invention relates generally to the field of servicing subscriber trouble reports by telephone company service centers. More specifically, the present invention relates to interfacing a telephone company trouble report input system, into which the trouble report information is entered and stored, with a telephone company trouble report resolution system, that allows technicians to access trouble reports so that they can be resolved.
2. Background of the Invention
When a telephone subscriber has a problem with telephone service, he or she contacts a telephone company service center to inform the telephone company of the problem. An operator working in the telephone company service center obtains information describing the trouble from the subscriber, and uses the information obtained to create a trouble report. The trouble report is stored on a trouble report input system.
The operator creates the trouble report by navigating through a series of input screens termed xe2x80x9cmasks.xe2x80x9d The masks provide a format of fields into which the operator enters the information. One such trouble report input system is the Loop Maintenance Operating System (LMOS) system used by BellSouth Telecommunications, Inc. of Atlanta, Ga. In conventional systems, the trouble report input system generates a hardcopy ticket, which is a paper copy of the trouble report.
The hardcopy ticket is carried to a trouble report resolution system. An operator sitting at a terminal connected to the trouble report resolution system receives the hardcopy ticket and uses the information contained in the hardcopy ticket to create an entry in the trouble report resolution system. Technicians can access such entries to see what problems have been reported. One such trouble report resolution system is the Work Force Administration Dispatch In (WFA-DI) system used by BellSouth Telecommunications, Inc. of Atlanta, Ga.
There are two possible resolutions for a trouble report. First, the technician can fix the problem reported by the subscriber. Second, the technician can determine that the problem must be referred to another department within the telephone company for resolution. The information describing the resolution of the hardcopy ticket, whether fixed or referred to another department, is output by the trouble report resolution system as a hardcopy. This hardcopy is carried back to the trouble report input system where an operator inputs the resolution of the hardcopy ticket in the trouble report input system.
One problem with conventional systems is that a person is required to monitor the trouble report input computer system to determine when new trouble reports are entered. In addition, a human operator must generate a hardcopy ticket from a new trouble report and carry it over to the trouble report resolution system. An operator stationed at the trouble report resolution system must then manually enter the information contained on the hardcopy ticket into the trouble report resolution system. When the trouble is resolved, a hardcopy resolution of the trouble report is generated, which must then be carried back to the trouble report input system where an operator manually enters the resolution of the hardcopy ticket.
As can be seen, the conventional system suffers from inefficiency by requiring duplicative manual entry of trouble ticket information, first in the trouble report input system, and second in the trouble report resolution system. Concomitant to this duplicative manual entry is the increased possibility of clerical errors when entering hardcopy information into the trouble report resolution system. Moreover, the conventional system suffers from the drawback of requiring management resources to manage the hardcopy tickets and hardcopy ticket resolutions to prevent their loss, and to assure that the problems reported by subscribers are indeed resolved.
The present invention is an electronic interface between a telephone company""s trouble report input system and its trouble report resolution system that solves the problems associated with conventional systems. The interface eliminates the need for the trouble report input system to generate a paper ticket that must be carried and entered into a trouble report resolution system.
As in conventional systems, an operator receives a call and generates a trouble report which is stored in the trouble report input system as an electronic trouble ticket. The interface of the present invention continually, periodically or on command monitors the trouble report input system for the presence of new electronic input trouble tickets. When the interface finds a new electronic input trouble ticket, it acquires the information contained therein and uses it to build a resolution trouble ticket in a format that the trouble ticket resolution system can process. The trouble ticket resolution system provides the trouble information to a technician who either fixes the problem reported by the subscriber or determines that it must be referred to another department for resolution. The resolution of the resolution trouble ticket, whether fixed or referred, is forwarded by the trouble report resolution system to the trouble report input system, where it is used to close out the input trouble ticket corresponding to the resolution trouble ticket.
In a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the interface described above includes four processes to resolve trouble tickets. The first process obtains new input trouble tickets from the trouble report input system, and places trouble ticket numbers corresponding to those input trouble tickets in a process list. The second process obtains information from the input trouble tickets corresponding to the trouble ticket numbers in the process list, and uses it to create corresponding resolution trouble tickets in a format that the trouble report resolution system can process. The third process determines which resolution trouble tickets have been resolved, and stores trouble ticket numbers corresponding to the resolved resolution trouble tickets in a resolved list. The fourth process closes out the input trouble tickets on the trouble report input system that have numbers corresponding to the resolution trouble tickets on the resolved list.
Thus, one object of the present invention is to provide an interface between a telephone company""s trouble report input system and trouble report resolution system.
Another object of the present invention is to eliminate the management tasks required to handle hardcopy trouble tickets and hardcopy resolution reports.
Another object of the present invention is to increase the speed with which trouble reports and trouble report resolutions are exchanged between a telephone company""s trouble report input system and its trouble report resolution system.
These and other objects of the present invention are described in greater detail in the detailed description of the invention, the appended drawings and the attached claims.